Friday, February 21, 2014

Earlier in January this year, I had the chance to visit Manila. My main reason for the travel was to collate medical records from Eye Referral Center to bring to my visit to American Eye Center scheduled a month after (I'll be writing it in a different post). Given that Rizal Park is just across the street where Eye Referral is situated and I finished my appointment early, off I went with Mama and Papa to that historical landmark.

I have not been to Luneta for more than two decades so you can't blame me if the excitement gushed into my veins again, I was a giddy girl trapped in a twenty something body that day.

Since it took years for me to return to this place, I got to perceive a lot has changed. I was just 7 when I first visited Luneta, and likewise, perceptions change when a person gets older -- including that of places. Back then, I always thought Jose Rizal's monument is tall. But when I saw it up close during my recent visit, I come to realize it really was not. The grass is no longer green compared to the time my family first went there in 1992.

A lot of things had changed. Really. If there is one thing that fascinated me, it would be this:

There was a train roaming around Luneta. There was no such thing in that park back in the 90's.

Despite the huge difference, I still enjoyed the impromptu trip to Luneta with my parents as we don't get to do this often these days. The trip to the park just brought me back memories of childhood. While I felt somewhat disappointed with how the park looks now (the murky pools, unattended, wilting lawns and Rizal no longer has his honor guards), I hope that our government will make initiatives in restoring the place's original beauty (proper utilization of taxes please!). After all, Luneta has and will forever be playing a huge part in our country's history. It should never be put to waste.